


Merry everything and a happy always

by HighLadySolo



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Cunnilingus, F/M, Reylogan, Soft Clyde Logan, Tags will update as we go, brief mention of child abandonment, brief mention of food hoarding, brief mention of food scarcity, clyde is hornt for rey but he tries to be subtle, rey is hornt for clyde, reylogan christmas, the smut starts in chapter 3, this is basically hallmark in boone county
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:20:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28182294
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HighLadySolo/pseuds/HighLadySolo
Summary: Sadie Logan needs help learning her lines for her Christmas play, and when Clyde comes to help with the set decorations, he meets her new teacher, Miss Lorena Johnson.  Hallmark levels of fluff and smut ensue, with little to no angst.
Relationships: Clyde Logan/Rey (Star Wars)
Comments: 44
Kudos: 79
Collections: ReylOlds





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to electronic_neko on twitter for the tweet bemoaning the lack of Sadie and Clyde interactions, well...I had to.
> 
> Thanks to skyeryder01 for the beta read and suggestions.
> 
> **Note: as a person with a Southern accent, I find that writing in that vernacular of dropping g's and such incredibly difficult and extremely unpleasant, so I do apologize if you came here expecting that. However, I did add in a bunch of southernisms that I don't usually allow myself to write, so enjoy and y'all come back now, you hear?**

_ Honestly, Clyde Logan, you are such a pushover.  _

Clyde heard the words in his head like his mama had spoken them out loud, though she would’ve said them with a smile. 

She’d be wrong, though. He wasn’t letting Bobbie Jo walk over him, he just enjoyed spending time with his niece. 

Bobbie Jo had busted up into Duck Tape with her mean face on and Sadie in tow, and she’d been taken aback when it hadn’t taken any arguing to convince him to watch Sadie after school for a few days. Mellie usually did, but she’d come down with the flu.

So there he was, cooking dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets and crinkle-cut fries for Sadie at four o’clock in the afternoon. Sadie had said that that was her favorite, and her step-daddy didn’t like it, so Bobbi Jo never made it anymore. So they’d gone straight to the Save’n’More after he’d picked her up from school in his old pickup truck. She seemed a little skeptical as Clyde lowered the fry basket into the rolling oil, but he’d promised her all the soda she could have from the fountain if she’d let him fry the nuggets and fries instead of just baking them like Bobbie Jo had.

Sadie plopped herself on the stainless steel prep table, swinging her feet and watching him cook. She had a fuzzy winter hat on her head with a matching scarf, and the ugliest, furriest winter boots Clyde had ever seen.

“Clyde?”

“Yeah?”

“I need your help. And Mama said you’d be best ‘cause you spend so much time with your big ole nose in a book.” 

Clyde tried real hard not to take offense from all the dumb things Bobbie Jo said, but sometimes she hit hard without even knowing. It’s not like Bobbie Jo ever cracked a book open, anyway.

“You know I’ll help you, Sadie. What do you need?” 

“Well,” she said, pulling her hat off. Staticky hair followed the hat and made a huge halo around her head until she smoothed it back down with her hands. “You know the Christmas play’s coming up?”

“I do. What part did you get?”

“I’m the angel. The one that tells the story?” Her voice ticked up a bit more like a question than a statement.

“That’s a good part. You’ll get to wear wings.”

“Yeah, I know. But I’m having a hard time remembering my lines. Can you help me learn them?”

“Now Sadie Lynn, you know I never did any play.”

“Clyde.” Her sweet little drawl dragged the single syllable of his name into two.

“Oh, alright.”

_ Pushover _ .

A week later, Clyde pulled his favorite soft, worn flannel from the co-op on over his faded out t-shirt and slung himself into the seat of his old pickup to head to Sadie’s school to help her teacher with the set. Bobbi Jo had called him and said that the teacher had needed help and Jimmy would do it but his knee was acting up in the unseasonable chill and would he please go instead. 

When they’d had their “lucky break”, as they called it, Jimmy had immediately gone and bought a flashy new truck, but Clyde’s truck had been their daddy’s, and it felt wrong to get rid of it. Even if the damned thing had a mind of its own and didn’t run right half the time, just like now with it sputtering and smoking as he slid into an empty space in the elementary school parking lot. The truck backfired as he slid the shifter into ‘park’, and Clyde fished around in the box on the bench seat beside him, indiscriminately pulling out a small paperback to shove in his back pocket before shoving his shoulder into the truck door and clambering out.

Sadie had told him to go into the auditorium, and as he walked in, he was hit with the same smell he’d smelled when he’d attended school here—pencils, crayons, white glue, and a hint of old coffee from the teachers’ lounge.

The scents brought back memories he’d thought he’d forgotten. Being bullied about his over-large ears or nose, his lanky frame that grew too fast for his jeans to be the right length for any longer than a month, or the holes in his shoes that his frayed white socks peeked through when they hadn’t been able to buy new ones.

Clyde felt sorry for the younger version of himself for exactly one second, then he made himself remember that not only was he a war veteran who had  _ survived _ , he was a successful businessman, and he was rich.

Thinking about it that way felt…wrong. Logans weren’t rich. Logans worked hard for what they had, family curse or not, and they were proud of that fact.

But on the other hand, he really was rich, whether he liked it or not.

He wondered what his childhood bullies were up to and got his answer about three seconds later when a harried looking blonde woman with dark brown roots stumbled out of a classroom and slammed the door behind her.

She eyed him suspiciously. Time had not been kind to Mary-Louise Fonteneau, but she eyed him like he was a piece of meat, and he felt distinctly uncomfortable.

“Can I help you?” She looked hopeful, like she meant something other than what she said.

“No, thanks, Mary-Louise. I’m here to help my niece.” When Mary-Louise narrowed her eyes at him like she was trying to place him, he rushed on. “Sadie Logan? She’s in the play?”

Clyde watched as her eyes narrowed and her overdrawn lips formed the words “Sadie Logan”, and he nearly heard an audible click in her head when she put two and two together.

“Clyde Logan?” Her voice was a raspy shriek. “How  _ are _ you? Gosh you grew up good.” She eyed him again.

“Clyde!” Sadie’s voice rang out down the hallway, and he didn’t think he’d ever been so glad to hear it. “What is taking you so long?” 

Mary Louise looked like she was about to grab him, so Clyde started toward where his niece had poked her head out of the auditorium’s double doors.

“Aw, Sadie,” he said walking quickly and waving his prosthesis at Mary Louise without looking back. “You know that old truck of mine never does cooperate.”

As he neared the doors, Clyde heard an older female voice call out.

“Sadie? Where’d you go?” The voice held a hint of an accent that was very much not from West Virginia.

“Over here,” the little girl called as she pushed the doors open further. “Here comes Clyde to help with the trees!” Clyde shucked his flannel, tossing it over his shoulder before following Sadie through the doors.

_ Chaos _ was Clyde’s first thought on entering the auditorium. Then he amended that to  _ organized chaos _ . Groups of children of varying ages were scattered all over the auditorium. Some were painting huge cardboard cutouts of what looked like a red barn, some were gluing feathers to angel wings or twisting coat-hangers into halos, complete with tinsel garlands on top. When he looked down at Sadie, Clyde saw that she was covered in glitter and little white feathers.

“Lord have mercy, Sadie Lynn, what happened to you?” Clyde asked as he pulled a feather out of her hair.

“Making my costume!” she sang. “Wanna see?” She grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the group with the wings. She plopped down onto the floor and tugged on his hand until he followed, trying to make himself smaller so he didn’t accidentally knock a kid over. Sadie shoved her glittered and feathered wings into his lap.

“Wow, Sadie. That’s…something.” Clyde gingerly held the fragile-looking costume in his hands, and looked up.

He looked up into the most lovely, startlingly green eyes he’d ever seen.

Clyde blinked. The green eyes blinked back.

After a heartbeat, or maybe a million, Clyde wasn’t sure, he came to himself enough to take in the owner of those eyes.

She wore a red and white striped hat that would have looked more in character for a Dr. Seuss character than a Christmas play, and she wore her oversized jeans rolled up at the ankles to show several inches of matching striped socks. The socks trailed down into banged-up Converse sneakers, and Clyde felt an instant kinship with this woman who wore old shoes and sat on the floor with a bunch of kids.

Glitter dotted her face along with freckles, and Clyde thought it might just be the most beautiful thing he ever saw. After her eyes, of course.

Her hair waved gently to her collarbones beneath the silly hat, and Clyde found himself wondering if he reached out and touched it if it would slip softly through his fingers as easily as water.

Running his fingers through his own hair, Clyde chided himself for thinking such a thing. She was young and pretty, and he had no right to think about Sadie’s teacher like that.

“I’m Lorena Johnson,” she said holding her hand out, “but you can call me Rey.” He shook her hand and was pleased to find that not only did she have a nice, firm handshake, but her hands were warm and calloused, and completely unlike the limp, cold hands that he usually felt when he shook a lady’s hand.

“Clyde Logan.”

She smiled broadly.

“You’re here to help with the trees?”

“Yes, ma’am.” 

“Lovely! I’ll show you.” 

Clyde pushed up to his feet and watched as Miss Rey unfolded her legs and struggled to stand. He held a hand out to help her up, and she took it. Clyde gripped her slender hand in his big, bear paw grip, and unintentionally pulled her up so fast that her chest bumped into his. Clyde’s mouth went dry as he watched her mouth form a little ‘o’. He stared down at her and noted that she would be the perfect height to tuck beneath his chin for a hug. Not that she’d let him do such a thing.

“So, the trees?”

Clyde chalked her breathlessness up to having stood so quickly.

____________________________________________________

Lorena “Rey” Johnson felt very, very small with her apparently rather small hand still held in Clyde Logan’s exceptionally large one. He’d pulled her up so quickly, like she was tiny and weighed nothing. And when her breasts brushed against that enormous chest of his. Oof.

Rey needed a cold shower.

“So the trees?” She wondered if he heard how breathy her voice had become.

Rather than let go of his hand, she tugged him back to a recessed corner of the auditorium where a stack of wooden evergreen trees rested like some sort of haphazard forest.

“What do you need me to do, ma’am?”

_ Ma’am _ . She’d encountered those famous (infamous?) Southern manners before, but they’d never quite sent shivers straight down her spine.

“I’m not sure, honestly. I inherited these. Apparently some board member donated these years ago and still checks to be sure they’re used every year. Can you tell if they’re—I don’t know— structurally sound, I guess?” Rey walked over and tugged on the top tree. Despite its rather raggedy appearance, it didn’t budge.

“Let me help.” 

A very muscular arm slid past her nose, and Rey had to use every bit of her willpower not to bite it as his bicep flexed with the effort of moving the heavy piece of wood. Her eyes tracked backward up the arm, over an impressive shoulder, and up to his face. He had soft kind eyes under strong brows that lay over a rather impressive nose, and Rey found herself wondering how he—

“Ma’am?”

“What?” She blinked at him dazedly.

“If you don’t mind, I can pull these out and we can see what we’re working with.”

“Ah, right.” Rey scooted out of the way and watched as pulled each tree off the stack and inspected them. His muscles flexed delightfully under the thin cotton of his t-shirt, and Rey enjoyed watching him work in silence. 

He seemed…quiet, Rey thought. She wondered what he liked to do in his spare time. From the looks of his muscles, he must lift cows or something else equally enormous. And she was totally not checking out his ass in his worn jeans, but she saw a paperback poking out of his back pocket. Which she found totally intriguing. What kind of man looked like  _ that _ , doted on his niece, and apparently just wandered around with books in his pocket?

And what  _ was _ the book?

“I think they need some work.”

Rey’s concentration broke.

“They do?”

“Yes ma’am. The bases are coming loose here,” he pointed, “and a couple of them have nails poking out the back. I wouldn’t want one of the kids to get all scratched up.”

Rey blanched.

“You’re right. Umm. Do you know who in town could fix them? I’m new in town.” She couldn’t bear the thought of the set being unsafe for her students.

“I can do it,” he said quietly.

“Oh, no,” Rey said, feeling her hands flutter in front of her body. “No, I wouldn’t want to put you out.”

“It’s no trouble.” Clyde’s deep voice was low and soft, like a dark burgundy-colored velvet, Rey thought, the accent curling at the edges. “It looks like a simple fix.”

“You’re sure you don’t mind?” Rey heard her own voice tick up an octave at the end of her sentence, like a nervous teenager asking about a first dance.

“Naw, it’ll be something to do. The holidays get kinda lonely. Keep my hands occupied, you know?”

Rey wouldn’t mind keeping his hands occupied with her—

“Miss Rey!” Sadie appeared by her side, with two other girls in tow. “Miss Rey, the lid fell off the glitter!” Sadie was  _ covered _ in the stuff, little clouds of it falling off her clothes as she walked.

“Oh, Sadie! It’s alright, we’ll just go find the vacuum cleaner.” Rey made to turn away with the girls.

A large, warm hand landed on her shoulder.

“Miss Rey?”

“Please call me Rey,” she said, leaning her head back to smile up at him.

“Um, Rey.” He looked vaguely uncomfortable, running a hand through his dark hair. “I’ll go ahead and load up the trees and get to work, if that’s okay with you.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind working on them? If it’s too much trouble—“

“It’s no trouble at all,” he interrupted. “Like I said, the holidays are too…quiet.”

Rey understood that all too well. She wanted to tell him that she understood, but she didn’t even know him and felt that it might be just a bit too much.

“If you’re sure,” she agreed.

“Yes ma’am, I’m sure.” He nodded, his dark hair brushing over the tops of his shoulders.

“Well, alright then.” And she rushed off to find the girls who’d gone to search for the vacuum on their own.

When she returned, Clyde and the trees were gone. All that was left was the paperback that had been in his back pocket.

  
  


  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey calls Clyde, and they meet for dinner and form a connection.
> 
>   
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the millionth time to skyeryder01 for beta reading.
> 
> Some minor content warnings in the end notes.

The day after collecting the wooden trees, Clyde was contemplating them out in his shop, wondering if it would be overstepping if he repainted them. The raggedy wooden trees could use some sprucing up.

Spruce.

Clyde chuckled at his own joke, wondering if Rey would laugh with him. With her festive socks and hat and that bright smile, Clyde got the sense that she’d have a good sense of humor and was quick to laugh. And that got him to wondering what her laugh sounded like. Would she throw her head back when she laughed? Would she throw her head back in pleasure, too?

Clyde Logan Logan, you stop that this instant, he thought. That pretty young lady is not interested in you.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, startling him out of his salacious thoughts.

He fished it out with his prosthetic and swiped it unlocked to answer.

He nearly dropped it when he heard the voice on the other end.

“Hello? Clyde?”

_ Rey _ .

For a heart-stopping moment, Clyde wondered if his impure thought about her had somehow summoned her. But when he could breathe again, he reminded himself that sort of thing only happened in the movies.

“Hey, Rey.”

“Clyde! I’m so glad I caught you! I have your book!”

Book?

“Ma’am?” He asked politely. He had no clue what she meant.

“Your book! ‘The Rebel’s Secret Passion’ by B.S. Kysses?”

“My…what now?” 

“Your book! It fell out of your pocket yesterday in the auditorium, and,” she paused, and if Clyde didn’t know such a thing weren’t possible, he would’ve sworn he heard a blush color her cheeks. “And, I would’ve called you yesterday to return it, but…” she paused again. “I stayed up all night reading it.”

Clyde felt his own cheeks drain of color. The book he’d shoved in his pocket yesterday had been a  _ romance novel _ . What she must think of him. Bless your heart, Mama would’ve said with a shake of her head and an indulgent smile.

“Um,” was all he could say.

“I loved the book!” she exclaimed. “And I love your little sticker in the front! Such a good idea.”

Wondering how she got his number hadn’t even crossed his mind, but he realized that when he’d blindly put his little labels with “from the library of Clyde Logan” and his phone number in the books from the secondhand store, he’d missed pulling out the romance novel. Usually, the books he bought were mysteries or fantasy, and while he didn’t mind romance, actually enjoyed it on occasion, he didn’t read it while he was out and about. Jimmy and Mellie had given him enough shit about reading in public in his younger days that he just knew he’d never hear the end of it if they knew he read romance.

“You really liked it?” 

Seriously, was that all he could come up with after she had just told him she’d stayed up all night?

“Oh, yes! I’d like to return it to you, though. Would you like to meet to talk about the book?”

Wait— had she—

No, of course not. She just wanted to return the book. She probably felt sorry for him because he’d stupidly said the holidays were lonely.

“Yeah, sure,” Clyde said, trying not to let the enthusiasm he felt color his voice. 

“Oh, well if you’d rather not—“ she sounded upset, so he blurted the first thing that came to mind.

“Do you like bacon?” 

“Yes?”

“Meet me at the diner?” He had to rush to get the words out before he could stop himself. Even if she did just want to return the book, that didn’t mean they couldn’t still spend time together.

“The—what—sorry?”

“The diner. Over on Main Street?” Clyde rubbed his free hand over the back of his neck and felt his ears burn.

“Oh, of course! Are you free now?” 

Clyde looked down at his sawdust-speckled jeans and ripped shirt.

“I’ll meet you there in half an hour.”

In what was probably the fastest shower he had ever taken outside the military, Clyde scrubbed his skin roughly with his 3-in-1 shampoo, conditioner, body wash combo and accidentally squeezed the bottle too hard when he went to wash his hair, blue goo spraying all over the tiles and tub.

He’d have to clean that later.

Once he was rinsed and the soap was finally out of his eyes, Clyde jumped out of the shower and raced for his closet, wondering what to wear. It wasn’t a date, he chided himself, but still. He wanted to look presentable. She was a teacher, after all, an educated lady from somewhere far away from here.

He settled on a pair of jeans and a plain black tee-shirt that Mellie had picked out for him. He didn’t like them much, but they fit good, she’d said. Without really thinking, he grabbed another of his favorite flannels to pull on over the soft cotton tee and raced out the door.

When he arrived, his truck banging and clanging as always, he had three minutes to spare. But Rey was already there, waiting just outside the diner door, looking pretty as hell in a sundress and tights with combat boots and a bomber jacket pulled around her shoulders. Her hair was down again, and Clyde’s fingers itched to run through the waves to see if they were as soft as he hoped. She smiled brightly and waved at him as she watched him cross the street. When he was standing in front of her, she rose on her toes slightly, and Clyde blinked in surprise. But she just sank back down and stuck her hands in the pockets of her jacket.

He’d thought she was going to hug him and felt a sharp sting of disappointment.

But he squared his shoulders and held the door open, just like his mama had taught him, and let the familiar scent of the diner wash over him, all dark-brewed coffee, fries, and maybe just a hint of peppermint.

Inside, the diner was an explosion of red and green, tinsel, tablecloths, ornaments, and candy canes. There was even an almost life-sized nativity scene wedged against the back wall. Everything Maz and Rose could think of that had anything even remotely to do with Christmas was there, and Rey leaned her head back to take it all in as Rose led them to their booth.

Clyde thought it was nice, all the decorating, because it felt homey. He and Jimmy had never bothered to put up a tree when they had lived together, Mellie’s was mostly just covered in hairbows, and the one time Bobbie Jo had thought to invite them to her house for Christmas, her decorations had all just been solid white. So even though some people might call the Christmas explosion ‘tacky’, Clyde loved it.

He said so to Rey.

“Oh, I love it too,” she said seriously, the green lights beside their booth offsetting the deeper green of her eyes. “I didn’t… Christmas is…well, anyway, I love the decorations.” She ducked her head as she removed her bomber jacket. Beneath it, she had layered a denim jacket over the soft floral sundress.

Rose reappeared with menus and steaming mugs of coffee, and oddly enough, a can of whipped cream spray. She winked at Rey before departing again, hurrying over to cash out a family of four.

Clyde eyed the red and white can suspiciously.

“What’s that for?” 

Rey laughed.

“Watch.” And squirted a mountain of it on top of her coffee.

Clyde, who typically drank his coffee black, nearly gasped in affront. 

“You…drink…that?”

“Mmm, yes!” She licked her lips.

Those words sent sparks straight to his groin.

_ Shit, Clyde, stop it. _

He watched in horror and awe as she stirred the concoction for a moment before taking an enormous sip. He watched in fascination as she closed her eyes and hummed in satisfaction. When she lowered the mug, a dollop of whipped cream remained on her nose. Without thinking, he reached across and brushed the white froth from the tip of her freckled nose.

“Sorry,” he said, ears burning, “you had—“ and he brandished his hand at her in evidence. 

“Oh, thanks! Want to try it?” She arched a brow and grinned, holding her mug out to him. The faintest trace of red-tinged lip balm lay on the rim, and Clyde ached to know whether it tasted like strawberry or cinnamon.

He very gingerly turned the mug around, so his lips didn’t touch where hers had, and took a tiny sip.

The coffee/whipped cream mix wasn’t what he expected, and while it wasn’t his favorite, it wasn’t bad.

“I think it would be better in cocoa,” he admitted.

Rey’s eyes lit up, and Clyde never wanted the look to leave her face again.

“Hey, Rose?” he called as she walked up to take their orders.

“Can we get two hot chocolates? And I’ll have the bacon cheeseburger, with-“

“Extra bacon, burnt, I know.” Rose lightly swatted Clyde on the shoulder and winked at him. “Rey?”

Clyde was surprised that the two women were acquainted, but on second thought, he knew he shouldn’t be. They were about the same age, both bright, happy creatures in a small town. Of course they knew each other.

“I’ll have the same, please, with extra fries, and—“

“A box,” Rose finished for her. “I know.” She grinned and walked back to the kitchen window and began hollering the order at Maz.

“So,” they said in unison and laughed.

“You go first,” he said, picking up his mug of black coffee that just didn’t quite seem festive enough now.

“So, the book.” 

Clyde inhaled scalding hot coffee and very nearly sprayed her with it.

He’d forgotten about the damn book.

“What about it?” he asked, warily.

“I  _ loved _ it,” she gushed before tugging the book out of an inner pocket in her jacket. “I know a lot of people laugh at romance novels, but it was such a fun read! Plus it was so sexy.” She fanned herself and blushed, her eyes turning gratefully to where Rose returned with another set of mugs.

Clyde’s own ears burned scarlet, and he promised himself that he’d stay up all night to read the damned book too, just to see what she thought was so sexy.

“I don’t laugh at romance novels,” Clyde said. “I like the…romance,” he said lamely. “The actual romance, not just the…you know.” Rey’s eyebrows rose and she smirked at him. “Anyway,” Clyde rushed on, “I don’t buy them much. My brother Jimmy gives me shit, uh sorry, I mean he gives me a hard time about it.”

“Did you just apologize for swearing? That’s adorable.” Clyde’s focus narrowed to where she dipped the tip of her index finger into her second mountain of whipped cream, and his eyes tracked to where she delicately licked her finger.

Clyde didn’t think he’d ever been called adorable and didn’t know how to feel about it. But since it had come from Rey, he didn’t think he minded too much.

“Sorry. My mama always told me not to cuss in front of a lady.”

“I guess it’s a damn good thing I’m not a lady then, hmm?” She said sweetly before sticking her finger back into her mouth and  _ sucking _ .

Clyde tried not to let his mouth fall open as he broke out in a cold sweat, and he was eternally grateful that Rose chose that moment to plunk their plates down in front of them.

“Enjoy!” She sang as she walked away.

Easing out a breath, Clyde watched in fascination as Rey cut her burger into very precise quarters then divided her fries into four little piles, counting to make sure they were even. When she noticed Clyde’s attention, her face fell, and she ducked her head.

“Everything okay?” he asked. He’d only managed two bites in the time it had taken her to divide her food into quarters.

“Umm,” she said, still not looking at him, fiddling with her napkin, now, instead of the food.

“Rey?”

“I…oh, bugger all.” Rey sighed. “I don’t do well. During the holidays, I mean. The cold weather sort of…” she started twisting the napkin in her fingers. “I was left, abandoned, I guess, outside a shop when I was very small. Small enough not to really remember, but old enough to hold onto…feelings.”

Clyde’s heart constricted. He set down his burger and listened while she talked, still avoiding his eyes.

“I remember feeling cold. Scared.” Her nimble fingers started shredding the napkin into strips. “Hungry. I was so hungry and so alone. And when someone finally found me and brought me to the authorities, there was almost nowhere for me to go.”

Clyde’s hands balled into fists beside his chipped diner plate. Rey’s shoulders had started curling in on themselves, and he wanted to reach out and touch her, smooth the furrow between her brows with his lips and hold her until she released the tension that had made her curl in on herself like she was that small child again, seeking any scrap of warmth.

“So when they finally found a place for me,” she kept going like she couldn’t stop, a small pile of shredded paper in front of her, “there wasn’t…enough. Anything. Space, food… So I started saving it, hiding food whenever possible, just in case. And sometimes around this time of year it just…hits. When I got a bit older, I was adopted by a lovely family, the Storms, and they took care of me and I had enough. But somehow, it never seemed like enough, so I never stopped. Not for a long time. Eventually, I got therapy, and it helped, but this is my first Christmas away. From my family, I mean, and I just…went back. To that little girl.” Rey let out a shaky breath. “Sometimes it feels like I’ll never have enough and never get warm.”

When she finally looked up, her green eyes were watery and haunted.

Slowly, so as not to spook her, Clyde reached across the table and put his hand over hers that rested in the pile of shredded napkin.

“Do you want to take mine too?” 

At that, she burst into tears.

Worried he’d upset her, Clyde tried to pull his hand away, but she clapped her other hand down on top of his before his fingers left her wrist.

“I— you— you’d do that?” Her words came out strangled, but a tiny bit of the tension left her shoulders.

Clyde blinked at her.

“Of course I would. It ain’t right for a kid to go hungry, and even if it was a long time ago, I don’t want you to feel like there’s not enough. Do you want me to order more for you to take home?” Her fingers tightened around his.

“Clyde Logan.” She said his name like a command.

Clyde rather enjoyed that.

“Yes ma’am?” He wasn’t quite sure how to respond.

“When we leave this restaurant,” she paused to look him right in the eyes, “I am going to kiss you. If that’s alright with you.”

“Y-yes ma’am. That’s alright with me.”  _ Really, Clyde? _ “I mean, I’d like that. A lot.” His ears burned, but he maintained eye contact and was rewarded with a smile.

Rey removed her hand from his and swiped at her eyes. 

“We should probably eat before this gets too cold,” she said, pushing the pieces of her burger back together.

As they ate, Clyde did his best not to inhale his food, and he made certain that Rey had plenty to eat. She laughed when he asked her multiple times if she was sure she didn’t want him to order more, even after Rose brought the check. Normally, he was very careful with his money, even after what they’d gotten from the Speedway, but tonight, as soon as they were done eating, Clyde threw a handful of bills on the table and nearly knocked over tiny little Maz Kanata as she exited the kitchen through the swinging door.

“Nice one, girlie,” he heard her mutter to Rey behind him, and Clyde had no clue what she meant.

Once outside, though, Clyde was left with a conundrum. Should he ask her for the kiss, would she even remember offering it? Had she meant a kiss on the cheek? 

If asked, Clyde would have denied that the pounding sound he heard was his heart beating out of his chest. Some overgrown redneck’s too-loud bass, maybe. But, no. It was definitely his heart pounding in his ears as he held the door open for Rey while she walked through and slid her arms into the bomber jacket’s soft, worn leather sleeves.

Cold air hit him as the door swung shut behind her, the little bell jingling merrily, and Clyde watched Rey turn on the heel of her boot and start down the sidewalk. Rey grinned over her shoulder, her hair swinging as she walked, and crooked a finger at him in invitation.

So he followed. Clyde thought he’d do just about anything she asked him to do.

When Rey darted into a gap between two buildings, Clyde raised an eyebrow but followed anyway.

Her arms were stronger than he’d expected when they reached around him, and Clyde inhaled sharply when he felt her warm body press against his. When she tugged on his flannel to pull his face down to hers and pressed her soft, cinnamon-scented lips against his, he knew he was lost for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Rebel's Secret Passion by B.S. Kysses is an awesome fic by andabatae on ao3 and twitter. 
> 
> Brief mention of child abandonment, food scarcity, food hoarding.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After they kiss, Rey and Clyde find their way up to her apartment. 
> 
>   
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that I've been sitting on this completed chapter for about a month now, so I thought I would share it now rather than waiting. The next chapter is halfway written, but I haven't been able to write since Christmas due to a really intense bout of depression. I won't go into it, but this is probably the hardest I've been hit by my brain weasels in...possibly ever, and it hasn't let up at all. And now due to *gestures vaguely at the world* I don't have the spoons to do more than survive, which is why I've kind of disappeared.
> 
> With that being said, thank you for reading. And thank you to Megan for beta-reading as always.

Cold wind swirled around her legs, the only part of her that wasn’t pressed against Clyde, and Rey had to use every ounce of her willpower not to jump up and fling her legs around his waist. She didn’t want to scandalize the residents of Boone County just yet.

She had plans for Clyde Logan, though.

Big plans.

But for now—

“Do you want to come up to my apartment?” 

He’d followed her when she broke the kiss, which Rey found incredibly endearing.

She felt him stiffen at her question. And not in the fun way.

“You want—“ his brows furrowed, and Rey wondered if she’d made a mistake.

“I thought maybe we could talk more,” she said a bit breathlessly. “About books, movies, things like that. “

“Sure, darlin’, I’d love to talk about books with you.” 

His slow smile sent shivers down her spine, and her knees went weak at the endearment. His cedar and pine scent enveloped her as she tugged on his flannel again to draw him nearer. Rey’s hands slid into the soft waves at the back of his neck, and Clyde’s own hands traced down her spine to rest respectably on her hips. She considered moving his hands lower but decided against it.

It was probably in their best interest if she didn’t jump him on the sidewalk.

So she took his hand and led him to her apartment, a block away. She lived above a little boutique that sold things she didn’t quite understand, mostly cheese trays with college football mascots emblazoned on them, or earrings with the same. But the shop was mostly only open during school hours, so she only had to deal with the nice older lady who owned the building and ran the store asking about Rey’s monogram pattern maybe once a month.

When she pushed the door open, Rey had half a moment to berate herself for not tidying up more, but she hadn’t really let herself think that she might end up with Clyde in her apartment. Even though he was now, mostly platonically.

But the way he’d kissed her had been anything but platonic.

“Wow,” he breathed once he’d stepped over the threshold. 

Rey wondered if he was ‘wowing’ the overflowing laundry basket or the half-full tiny dishwasher that she’d left open in her haste to leave.

Neither. 

She followed him in, closing the door behind her. Clyde stepped over to one of her bookshelves, stacked three deep with paperbacks. He ran a thick finger across the top shelf, taking in the titles, and Rey watched as he paused at a few and tapped the spines like he recognized them.

“It’s a bit of a mess,” Rey said before trying to shove the laundry basket into her bedroom without him noticing.

“When you come to my house, I’ll show you my library.” Clyde offered her a shy smile, one that made her wonder how many people had seen it.

Seen  _ him _ .

He seemed so quiet and unassuming, despite taking up so much physical space, that Rey wondered how many people really  _ saw _ Clyde for who he was.

“I’d like that a lot.” Rey grinned and crossed to her tiny refrigerator and pulled out two bottles of beer, silently offering him one with a gesture.

He hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

The apartment had been furnished, probably with the owner’s rejected furniture, and Rey sat on the tiny, threadbare burgundy-colored loveseat that was probably the only piece of furniture in the room that would fit Clyde’s tall frame. She bemoaned the fact that she slept on a twin bed, but tried to put it out of her mind as she patted the cushion next to hers for him to sit.

Clyde sat next to her and took a long pull from his beer.

“So,” Rey said. “Books?”

Clyde nodded for her to continue, resting his beer bottle on his knee as he tried to make himself more comfortable on her tiny loveseat. The bottle looked minuscule in his hand. Rey had to force herself to look away from that hand, his thick fingers.

“What’s your favorite book?” she asked.

“You promise not to laugh?” He peered at her earnestly, his whiskey-colored eyes looking not sad, exactly, or wary, but…reserved.

“I promise.” Rey crossed her heart with the hand holding her beer.

“Well, I read a lot, and I have a lot of favorites,” he said. “But my very first favorite is— are you sure you won’t laugh?”

“Clyde, I will not laugh at you.” 

“Alright. It’s The Story of Ferdinand.” 

Rey did not laugh. In fact, she thought she could understand why it was his favorite.

“I’ve read it. It’s quite lovely,” she remarked. “Will you tell me why it’s your favorite?” 

“It was the first book I remember reading on my own. I was five, I think, and Mama took us to the Boone County library, and the lady told me I could take a book home. Things are different now, but back then we didn’t have much, and the only book we ever had at home was the Bible. Mama read to us all the time, but finding a whole building full of books? That I could just read for free? I think it put me into shock, and I only grabbed one. Ferdinand.”

Rey smiled at the look of awe that flashed over his face, like he still remembered that feeling. She’d had a similar moment as a child, and she felt her heart warm at their shared experience.

“I read that book so many times before we had to take it back,” Clyde continued. “I liked it so much I checked it out almost every time we went back. Still do, sometimes.”

“It really is lovely. I love that Ferdinand just wants to sit and smell the flowers.” Rey spun her nearly empty beer bottle between her fingers. “And you read romance, too,” she said coyly, peering at him through her lashes..

Clyde, bear of a man that he was, blushed, the color spreading over his cheeks and up to his ears.

“I do,” he said simply. 

“Now  _ that _ is interesting,” Rey said, emptying her beer bottle before setting it on the floor and tucking her feet under her. “I can’t say I’ve met many men who’d actually read romance, much less admit it.”

Clyde shrugged.

“It’s nice to read about the…romance.” One of his thick, dark brows ticked upward and his full lips quirked.

“Why, Clyde Logan,” Rey did her best to imitate the local drawl, “are you saying you like to read  _ smut _ ?”

“First of all, Rey Johnson,” he said, his voice dropped an octave, “don’t you  _ ever _ talk like that again. Your accent is much prettier than mine.” Rey bit her lip at the order, at his tone, trying to ignore the rush of heat it sent through her. “And second of all, so what if I  _ do _ read smut?” 

“I just—it’s just—“

He smirked at her stuttering, pressing his lips to the rim of his bottle and taking a sip.

“It’s just that romance novels are typically written for women. Lady porn, you know?” 

Rey watched his full, sensuous lips form the words ‘lady porn’ before he spoke.

“And?” was all he said.

“You mean to tell me that you, big strong man that you are, read romance novels that are intended to get women off, and you like them?” She couldn’t quite fathom it.

“Maybe I like to get women off too.”

Oh.

Oh, shit.

“That a problem?” he asked before draining his own beer and setting it aside.

And Rey realized that she’d sworn out loud.

“No, no problem,” she squeaked.

For all her eagerness earlier, she was caught off guard by his sudden brazenness.

“So, Rey, why do  _ you _ read romance?” He settled against the back of the loveseat, his broad shoulders taking up a majority of the space.

“I suppose I rather enjoy reading about heaving breasts and creamy thighs and heads thrown back in ecstasy.” She smirked, hoping to catch him off guard, but his eyes darkened.

“Hmm,” he hummed, and Rey was close enough on the tiny piece of furniture that the sound sent vibrations through her chest. 

Somehow, like he had a gravitational pull all his own, Rey felt her body drawn toward his again. The worn, rough fabric of the loveseat tugged against the nylon of her tights, probably pilling them horribly, but she didn’t care. Clyde shifted, leaning further back and shifting his legs a bit. One raven-dark eyebrow quirked at her, and Rey took it as an invitation, draping herself over him, her legs straddling his, spread almost impossibly wide. 

One warm hand and one cold one slid over her outer thighs, sliding beneath the hem of her summer dress, stroking slowly upward. Whiskey eyes met hers, watching, as if waiting for her to stop him. 

She didn’t, wouldn’t,  _ couldn’t _ stop him.

Rey leaned back, allowing her denim jacket to slide off her shoulders, all but pressing her breasts against his face. She watched as his eyes tracked downward toward the soft smocked top of the dress. Almost of their own accord, Rey felt her own hands moving, rising to card through his soft, dark hair that was nearly longer than hers. His eyes closed as her nails scratched lightly over his scalp, and Rey took the opportunity to really look at him, drinking in the sight of him beneath her.

Her hips shifted, stretching to further accommodate his width between her thighs, and his thumbs dug into her hipbones. A rumbling growl reverberated through his chest, and Rey moved against him again. 

His fingers fisted in the hem of her dress, slowly tugging it upward, pausing somewhere around her waist.

“This okay?” he whispered.

She pulled the dress over her head in answer.

His whiskey eyes tracked her hands, and when she’d flung the dress to the floor, Rey saw that Clyde’s eyes were very pointedly looking over her shoulder.

She giggled.

“Clyde.”

“Yep.” He still wasn’t looking at her.

“Clyde.” She bounced on his lap.

He closed his eyes and groaned.

“Clyyyyde.” Rey ground her hips down and leaned forward to wrap her hand beneath his chin, tugging his face to hers. His lips were so soft against hers, and she could taste her cinnamon lip balm on him as his mustache tickled her skin.

He kissed her back but kept his eyes firmly closed.

“Such a gentleman,” she breathed against his lips. “Too bad I’m not much of a lady.” Rey’s hands slid down to where Clyde’s had returned to rest on her hips, gripping his wrists and dragging them slowly upward, over the plane of her stomach and ribcage until his palms covered her breasts. “You can look now. They’re covered.”

Clyde swallowed audibly, but opened his eyes. Rey’s fingers were still wrapped around his wrists, or at least as much as her small hands could wrap around his wrists, and she left them there as she spoke.

“Clyde?” She wondered why he wouldn’t look at her.

“Yeah?” 

“You don’t want to look…at me?” Her voice caught on the lump in her throat.

“I am  _ trying _ ,” he said through gritted teeth, “to be a gentleman. And I don’t know if I can do that if I look at you.”

His voice was deliciously rough around the edges, scraping over her exposed skin and sending curls of heat through her to pool at her core.

“Hmm.” Rey looked down to where both of his hands took up nearly her entire torso and rocked her hips against his again. “I don’t think I’d mind too much if you  _ weren’t _ a gentleman.” Her voice came out in a rasp. 

A muscle ticked in Clyde’s jaw, and she thought he might have bitten the inside of his cheek.

His thumbs stroked over the soft skin between her breasts, once, twice, then he flipped her onto her back so quickly she barely had time to realize what happened before he was moving over her, covering her mouth with his own. All the air left her lungs as Clyde’s broad chest pressed into hers, and she felt tiny beneath him. Her hands grasped at the hem of his shirt, needing to feel his skin against hers, and Clyde obliged her, shrugging off the soft flannel before ripping his tee-shirt off and draping it over the arm of the loveseat. 

And then he  _ finally  _ looked at her, half-clothed beneath him. He stared drinking her in, his newly-bared chest heaving as she did the same. She felt shy in her semi-exposed state, raw and naked, yes, but in a new way.

She felt like he  _ saw _ her, like she saw him, all of his unexpected softness and kindness. One finger gently pushed a lock of hair off her forehead as he knelt above her, and her heart ached at his tenderness

Clyde Logan looked at her like she was something holy, something she’d never seen from anyone, and she wanted that, always.

So Rey reached for him, sliding her hands into his soft hair, guiding him back down to her, finally feeling the warmth of his skin sliding over hers. He sighed against her as their lips met, then growled low in his throat as she hooked her legs around his hips and arched up against him. Clyde reached his arm behind her to move her body back so her head rested on the arm of the loveseat. With one leg braced on the floor and the other between Rey and the back of the seat, Clyde shifted his attention from her lips to press little biting kisses from her ear down the column of her throat to flick his tongue over her collarbone, pausing there to suck a bruise into her flesh. Rey whimpered at the feeling of his tongue and teeth and pulled her legs tighter around him, pressing her throbbing center against the bulge in his jeans. He ground against her in response, and Rey whimpered when his mouth left her neck only to gasp when his lips found her peaked nipple. He palmed the other, flicking the pad of his thumb over it, mimicking the movement of his tongue. She cried out when he lightly scraped his teeth over the swollen tip of her breast, and he froze.

“I’m sorry, I—“ Clyde pushed himself backward, taking his hands off her, nearly falling off the loveseat.

“Clyde.” Rey slid herself out from beneath him, raising up on her knees to even out their height. He still towered over her, she noted with a mixture of satisfaction and frustration. “I liked that.” 

His brows furrowed like he didn’t believe her, like he couldn’t believe she wanted him.

“Do you want to feel how  _ much _ I liked that?” she whispered.

His eyes widened, but he nodded slowly.

Rey reached between them to again grasp his wrist, to pull his hand forward, to slide it between her legs so he could feel the dampness of her arousal. One thick finger traced over the fabric, stopping where her clit lay beneath.

“You’re soaked through, darlin’,” he said in awe. “For me?”

“For you,” she answered, eyes fluttering closed as his finger traced the same path over her folds. 

“You really want  _ me _ ?” 

Rey’s heart hurt at his words, his uncertainty. 

“I want all of you, Clyde,” she breathed. She stared into his eyes, so he would know, so he would believe.

His strong arms slid around her, knocking the breath from her lungs and crushing her to his chest. She felt the brush of his hair against her shoulder as he buried his face in her neck.

Then slowly, like he thought she might bolt, he slid one hand down her back and around her hip to rest at the waistband of her tights.

“Can I— can I touch you?”

“Only if I can touch you.” She gave him a wicked grin as she reached between them to unbutton the black jeans that had hugged the muscles of his thighs. Her hand dipped inside his jeans while he slid his hand into her tights. They found each other at the same time, and she gasped at both his finger sliding between her slick folds and at the sheer size of him.

Clyde hissed through his teeth as she wrapped her hand around his erection, using her other hand to tug down this waistband of his boxers to free him. 

“I—you first—please?” he said, staring between them at her hand that looked tiny as she slowly worked her way up his shaft. 

Rey scowled and started to speak, but he slid his finger over her clit again, and her hips bucked. A little smile quirked his lips upward, and she stroked him one more time before he grabbed her wrist and pinned it above her head with his left hand.

The tights were old, and Rey was thankful for that as they stretched when Clyde pressed his hand further between her legs, lazily caressing his fingers through her folds. He looked rather pleased with himself when her breath started coming in ragged pants as he slid one finger inside her, stroking her front wall.

Almost as if they had a mind of their own, her hips ground down, seeking more from him. Clyde smirked down at her as he added a second finger, curving them inside her. Rey’s back arched, but Clyde kept her in place with his hand on her wrist as his thumb brushed over her clit. He was going so deliciously, agonizingly slowly that Rey was on the verge of pleading with him to let her come when her phone vibrated in her purse.

It was the only sound in the room other than their own breathing and the sound cut through the near-silence like a knife.

The phone stopped vibrating, then started again a second later.

“Maybe you should get that,” Clyde said, leaning back so Rey could sit up.

Rey groaned. Nobody called her except work. Everyone else knew better.

She stomped over to where she’d left her purse on the coat rack near the door and fumbled about inside it until she found the offending piece of glass and metal. She grabbed it just as it stopped vibrating again, and for a second she thought—

Nope.

This time, she answered, walking back to where Clyde waited as she did so.

“What?” She wasn’t often so curt, but she felt she had the right since she had been right on the verge of orgasm.

“Miss Johnson?” 

“Yes?” She snapped. Clyde reached out for her, and tugged her toward where he remained on the loveseat, his face level with her sternum. He nuzzled into the space between her breasts, one warm hand and one cold one sliding up and down her back.

“There’s been an incident at the school.” The night security guard’s nasal voice grated in her ear.

“What happened?” Rey’s voice sounded far away as Clyde’s mouth trailed toward a nipple, scorching her skin.

“A pipe burst. There’s water everywhere,” the guard said.

Rey threaded her fingers through Clyde’s hair, partly to keep him still, but partly because she enjoyed his reaction to being touched. He purred against her breast, and Rey watched in fascination as her nipple disappeared into his mouth.

“Oh no. What exactly should I do about it?” Her eyes glazed as Clyde started peeling her tights down with one hand, his mouth still on her.

“Aren’t you the emergency person for the elementary school?” 

Rey sighed.

“I suppose I am. What do you need me to—“ she groaned as Clyde pulled her tights to the tops of her thighs and slid his fingers back inside her.

“Miss Johnson? You okay?”

“Fine,” Rey ground out. “Just…stubbed my toe.” 

Clyde chuckled around her breast, and the vibrations of his deep baritone nearly sent her over the edge.

“Oh, okay. When can you be here? The insurance guy said he’d be here soon.”

“I—what?”

“The insurance guy. To check out the water damage?”

“Oh, shit.” Clyde was scissoring his fingers inside her.

“It’s not that bad,” the guard said hastily, misinterpreting her cursing.

“Good.” Rey had to bite her lip to keep from moaning as the pad of Clyde’s thumb circled over her clit.

“Right. So when did you say you’ll be here?” 

“Umm. Soon?”

“The guy from the insurance company said he’d be here in half hour—“

“Perfect,” Rey said.

“Fifteen minutes ago” the guard continued as if Rey hadn’t interrupted him.

“Fine!” Rey snapped. Clyde’s honey brown eyes peered up at her as he kissed his way to her other breast, one dark eyebrow quirking upward in question.

“See ya,” the guard said, completely unaware that he was interrupting her orgasm for the second time in five minutes.

Rey threw the phone down, and belatedly hoped it landed somewhere soft.

And then she immediately forgot about it as Clyde bit down on her nipple and crooked his fingers, rubbing that spot deep inside her. One of her hands clenched in his hair, the other dug into the skin of his shoulder as she bowed forward over him, hissing through her teeth in pleasure. Clyde caught her as her knees gave out, guiding her gently to the seat beside him.

“You got to go, huh?” Clyde tugged the waistband of her tights back up over her hips, and Rey nearly sobbed into his neck.

“I do. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s alright, darlin’.” He kissed her temple.

“Can I see you again?” 

“You sure you—“ 

Rey stopped him with a light brush of her lips over his.

“Stop that.” 

“Yes ma’am.” 

Rey’s toes curled in her combat boots.

“I like you, Clyde Logan, and if you think for one second that I’m going to let you get me off and not repay the favor, then you’ve got another think coming.” 

“I like you too, Rey, a whole lot.”

“Good.”

They gathered up their clothes, almost shy with each other, despite what they’d nearly done on her tiny loveseat, and they left her apartment hand in hand. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading.
> 
> Clyde's second prosthetic seemed sort of unrealistic to me, so I decided to roll with him being able to use it with more freedom than is probably realistic. I hope that's okay.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little more Sadie, meeting a new character who kept sidetracking me, throw in some Mellie for good measure, and finally getting into the real smut. 
> 
>   
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen that I bribed my husband to write smut. Well this is the smut he wrote. I mostly left it as he wrote, just editing a bit for clarity and adding in words he wasn’t sure of. He left me lots of asterisks with notes like “can you say gspot in a fic” type things. So anyway, if you enjoy it let me know and maybe we can get him to write more 👀 
> 
> Thanks as always to my beta skyeryder01.

Since Sadie’s school was still closed due to the flooding a week later, Clyde had volunteered to watch her until Bobbi Jo got home from whatever it was she usually did while her kids were in school. Clyde had gone to pick up Sadie from the big white house, scoffing at Moody’s newest car. This one was a bright yellow Charger, probably automatic since the man still couldn’t drive stick.

Glitter spiraled down to the living room rug from the feathers of Sadie’s costume as she paced back and forth, but he didn't mention it. She'd said she needed the costume to practice, and who was he to argue with her?

"Behold," she hollered like a drill sergeant and flung her arms out to the side. "I am an angel of the Lord." She made a fist at chest level and shook it at her imagined audience.

Clyde winced. Miss Rey hadn’t given her much direction, Sadie said, but her classmates to either side had experienced her 'wingspan' a bit too much. Sadie hadn't noticed that she was whacking her friends in their faces with her wings  _ and _ her arms, and Clyde was trying to figure out how to get her to be a little more cherub and a little less avenging angel of glittery death.

"Maybe stand in one place this time, Sade. I don't think if you were flying you'd be swaying quite so much." He paused, pretending to consider. "Maybe do praying hands?"

Sadie earnestly clasped her hands in front of her and lifted her eyes heavenward, the very picture of an angel. "Behold!" she yelled, somehow even louder than before.

Gryff barked in agreement as he pushed his big furry head in through his swinging dog door. When the large brown-and-black dog had pulled his large, furry body through the plastic hole, he padded over to Sadie and licked her face. The little girl flung her arms around the dog's neck, showering him with glitter. Clyde really didn’t understand how there was any glitter left on the wings since it was all over his floors and now, his dog.

"Gryff! No kisses!” Sadie dragged out the single syllable as usual and laughed as the dog shoved his big, furry rump down in a sit, landing right on her fuzzy boot.

"Go on, Gryff," Clyde said gesturing toward the doorway and scratching the dog’s ears as he passed by, tail swishing as he went. "Alright now, Sadie. Let's get back to it. Maybe not quite so loud this time?"

They went through her lines a few more times without much change.

“Sadie Lynn," Clyde said, dropping his beat up hat over her pigtails and squatting on his heels in front of her, "tell me what you know about angels."

“They're the most beeeautiful creatures with lovely wings and halos,” she said earnestly, adjusting the coat hanger and garland monstrosity on her head.

"Right-" he said, but Sadie wasn't done. 

"And they've got flaming swords!" she pronounced fiercely.

"Well," Clyde paused and thought for a minute. Technically, she wasn't wrong. Genesis said so. "Well," he said again, "maybe. Maybe the angel you're supposed to be wouldn't need her sword to deliver a message, though.”

Sadie considered that.

"Alright, I guess I can work with that," and she reached beneath the white robe that covered her school clothes and pulled out a toy sword.

Clyde blinked and took it.

"Behold," she said with considerably less violence. Then she ran through the rest of her lines, with Clyde filling in the other parts as needed.

He thought it was kind of fun, pretending to be someone else, even if it was just for practice.

“That was real good, Sadie bug. You wanna try again?"

"No, I got it now. Can I just play with Gryff?" Sadie ran the dog through his various tricks, but eventually the situation deteriorated to the little girl just leaning back against the huge dog and giving him treats out of her pocket.

Unsurprisingly, all the arm-flinging and glitter-slinging had worn Sadie out, and she fell asleep on the couch, her gentle snores causing her drooping halo to flutter slightly.

——————

Zipping his jacket against the cold, Clyde stepped out the back door and whistled for Gryff, who bounded out of the woods surrounding the house. A stick that was nearly the size of a log trailed from the dog’s mouth to the ground, leaving a furrow in the fallen leaves. 

“Getting cold, huh, Gryff?” Clyde ruffled the big dog’s ears when the dog lay the stick down at his feet.

“Woof,” Gryff barked agreeably, his wagging tail making an arc in the leaves behind him.

“Ain’t you tired, yet, boy?” 

In answer, the dog stood at attention, his liquid-dark eyes tracking Clyde’s every movement as the man leaned down to grab the stick and hurl it as far as he could for the dog to fetch.

While he waited for the dog to retrieve the stick, Clyde tried to shove thoughts of Rey out of his mind. She’d been so sweet, with just a tinge of bossiness, and Clyde liked that more than was probably smart. He still couldn’t quite fathom how a girl like her had any interest in a big dumb former criminal like him. 

But he couldn’t get the taste of her cinnamon lips out of his head, nor the feel of her when she came on his fingers. She’d been so warm and soft and slick.

His cock stirred in his jeans, and Clyde unzipped his jacket to let the cold air blast him back to reality.

Gryff reappeared with another, even larger stick.

“Why don’t you like chasing a ball, huh?” 

Gryff smacked his front paws on the ground and stuck his tail in the air as he readied to steal the stick from Clyde’s grip.

They tussled for a minute until Clyde wrestled the stick out of the dog’s jaws and threw it into the woods again.

Cold wind ruffled his hair, and Clyde shoved his hands in his pockets and kicked his boot through the brown grass until Gryff came back. 

“Alright, last one.” He threw the stick again, and headed back toward the little white-painted house he’d bought after Jimmy had decided it was safe to retrieve the money from the Speedway. Smoke curled from the chimney, reminding Clyde that he needed to check his stock of firewood before the first snow fell. 

And if the freezing wind that had started whipping harder was any indication, that would be soon. He needed to get Sadie back home before it became too cold for his truck to crank. Whistling for Gryff, Clyde crunched through the brown grass, stomping his boots on the step to knock the mud off. Gryff appeared like magic at the tree-line and raced toward him, and Clyde watched the big dog’s long legs eat up the space between them. Stopping halfway, Gryff took a moment to sniff around a bit, pushing his snout through a pile of leaves, but a sharp whistle from Clyde had him headed back in the right direction. At the back porch, Gryff leaped over the concrete steps and pranced on the doormat while he waited for Clyde to let them in. 

After Clyde filled Gryff’s food and water bowls, he shuffled over to the coffee pot and set another pot to brewing while he went through the refrigerator to see what he needed to add to his grocery list. Bacon, of course. Eggs, milk, coffee, maybe a little box of chocolates for Rey, more chicken nuggets for Sadie.

Thoughts of Rey set his blood to boiling again, and Clyde felt he better go take a cold shower before going down to the Save’n’More. 

“Gonna change before we go,” he muttered as he passed through the living room where Sadie had pulled a book out of her bag and was curled up in the corner of the couch. “Got muddy,” he said by way of unnecessary explanation. His niece hadn’t even heard him, she was so engrossed in  _ Peter Pan _ . One of his favorites too, he thought idly.

Finally, he was clean and changed, Sadie’s things were all gathered up, and they were ready to leave. So he tossed Gryff a treat, turned on the radio for the dog so it wouldn’t be too quiet, and grabbed his stash of reusable grocery bags before pulling his jacket back on and heading out to climb in his old truck.

Dropping Sadie off with Bobbi Jo was uneventful, and Clyde could only hope his grocery run would be the same. No such luck. As soon as his old boot touched the asphalt in the parking lot of the Save’n’More, he saw Mellie come running over from her salon. 

By the time Mellie had made it across the busy street, Clyde had gone inside, found a buggy, and begun ticking items off his list.

“Heard you had a date last night,” Mellie said by way of greeting as she caught up to where Clyde and his buggy took up most of the cereal aisle.

“Hi to you too, Mel,” Clyde said.

“Heard you had a date with Miss Rey,” Mellie repeated.

“It was not a date,” Clyde groused. “She had my book and wanted to return it. It was time for supper, so we ate together. That’s all.”

Mellie’s black-lined eyes narrowed and she clicked her long fake nails together, pretending to examine them.

“Rose said y’all held hands.”

“She was sad. I tried to make her feel better.” Clyde sighed through his nose, trying not to roll his eyes to the heavens at his sister’s meddling.

“Hmm.” Mellie tossed her hair over a shoulder and peered at the cereal selections Clyde was showing her. She shrugged and said, “both.”

Clyde tossed the boxes of Froot Loops and Cinnamon Toast Crunch on top of his growing pile of food.

“What’s all this for?” Mellie looked suspicious. 

“I dunno.” Clyde shrugged. “I felt like stocking up before it snows.” 

Mellie scoffed. “It’s not gonna snow.”

“Feels like snow out there.” 

“Whatever. I gotta go, Purple Lady’s under the dryer. See you later.” 

She gave him a half hug and pranced back out the door, her honey-colored hair extensions swinging, and her white cowboy boots clicking on the grey tiles.

Clyde wandered throughout the store, grabbing more things from his list along with a few extras, like a couple bottles of wine. He’d seen a few bottles in Rey’s apartment and blushed as he thought he might ask her to drink it with him. He only stocked cheap red and white at Duck Tape because so few people around these parts drank wine at bars, so he rarely drank the stuff himself. Choosing a bottle based on a pretty label he thought Rey might like, Clyde perused the aisles, thinking about what else he might like to get for her. And he found himself wondering if she’d let him cook for her. He wondered if she felt better after her sad spell the day before, and considered calling her, but he noted the time and guessed that she was probably at the school to sort out the pipe situation, and he didn’t want to interrupt her.

So he checked out at the fancy new self-checkout and loaded his groceries in the banged-up bed of his old truck. His phone rang in his pocket a few times, but he’d put it in his right pocket and still felt a little leery about driving with his prosthetic hand, especially after only having his license back for a few months. So whoever it was would have to wait ‘til he got home.

When got home and got all the groceries unloaded and put up, Clyde pulled his phone out and saw three missed calls from Rey.

His heart stopped for a moment, wondering if she’d tell him that she regretted having let him touch her the night before, if she never wanted to see him again.

But surely she wouldn’t call  _ three _ times just to tell him to fuck off, would she?

Delaying the inevitable, Clyde shoved his phone back in his pocket and checked on Gryff, who was lolling on the couch with his paws in the air, woofing faintly at dream-squirrels, teeth showing. Clyde always wondered if he caught the squirrels in his dreams since he so rarely did in real life.

After fiddling around in the kitchen, making more coffee, and rearranging the boxes of cereal twice, Clyde figured he better nut up and face the music.

He gritted his teeth and called Rey back.

“Clyde!” 

She sounded… happy… to hear from him? 

“Hey, Rey.” Clyde tucked a loose strand of hair behind his ear and waited for the other metaphorical shoe to drop.

“I’m so happy I caught you! I have a question. A favor, really.”

Clyde didn’t quite know what he thought about that. 

“What’s up?”

Gryff shifted a bit at Clyde’s voice.

“You know how the school flooded last night?”

“Yes’m.”

“And you know how the auditorium floor dips down?” She didn’t give him time to answer. “Well, the auditorium is flooded, and they’re still trying to figure out how to drain it. We obviously can’t have the Christmas play there, but we were able to move that to the community center. The only problem is that we have to clear out immediately after the play for some meeting. But I thought,” she paused, and Clyde imagined her twirling a lock of hair around her finger. “I thought,” she continued, “well since Duck Tape is so close to the community center that we could maybe have the reception there? I know you’re family-friendly during the day, and the school already has parents bringing food. We just need the space. I don’t want to put you out if it’s too much trouble? I wouldn’t ask so last minute but we’re desperate.”

“I don’t know a thing about party planning, Rey.”

“Oh, I’ll do all the work! You won’t have to lift a finger!” Clyde wondered if she heard the double meaning in her words and very nearly didn’t hear her continue.” So you’ll let us do it? Please?”

The please was what got him.

“Yeah, I guess y’all can use the bar.”

“Oh, Clyde,  _ thank you!”  _

_ “ _ You need me to do anything for you out there?” 

“Nope! I’ll set up and all the parents and teachers will bring their shit right over from the community center.” 

“Shit, huh?” Clyde smirked.

“Absolutely. You ever had Mary-Louise’s divinity? Divine it is  _ not _ .” She made a gagging sound and Clyde tripped over his own foot.

_ Clyde Logan Logan, you quit thinking about putting your cock in her mouth right this minute,  _ he told himself.

“Unf,” was all he could manage, and he watched as Gryff slowly slid off the couch, hind legs still on the cushion, and stretched before wandering off through the dog door.

“Anyway,” Rey continued. “You’ll never believe this, but you left your book at my place!”

“I—huh.” He hadn’t noticed.

“So, I thought I’d deliver it in person,” she said coyly.

Clyde decided not to question her, so she didn’t change her mind.

“You know where I live?”

“It’s the strangest thing,” she said, a hint of laughter in her voice. “I met your sister today when she came to pick up Sadie, she said she hadn’t realized that the school was closed, you see, and we started talking, and she just sort of casually mentioned where you live.”

Damnit, Mel. His sister’s name ought to be changed to Meddlin’ Mel. Mendacious Mel.

“Well, come on out then.”

“I will! See you soon!” 

After she disconnected, Clyde panicked for a moment, wondering what he should do to prepare for her imminent arrival. Tea? Coffee? Should he bake cookies? Make a meal?

_Clyde Logan_ , mama’s voice sounded in his head, _it’s only a fifteen-minute drive out from town._ _Ain’t no time for cooking. Just make a pot of coffee and get out the nice mugs and maybe some doilies._

He did all that and relit the fire in the fireplace before pulling out the chocolate and wine he’d bought with Rey in mind. Not that he had any intentions of getting either of them drunk, but it sure did look nice in the center of his little round table.

She arrived in a Volkswagen Beetle that somehow looked worse than his beat-up old truck. It looked like most of the car had been robin’s-egg blue, but over time, rust spots and two replacement doors—one butter-yellow and one fire-engine red— had left the car looking like a bit of a mess.

Clyde loved it.

He walked over to the car, seeing Rey bang her shoulder into the door in an unsuccessful attempt to open it. Clyde gave the outer handle a good sharp tug and the door flew open just as Rey lurched forward to smash into it again. She launched herself right out the door, into Clyde’s middle, knocking them both backward into an icy puddle. Clyde grunted as the wind got knocked out of him; her shoulder had rammed into his chest. 

“You alright?” he gasped out.

“Oof.” Her knit hat, this one a riotous rainbow of colors, had fallen over one eye. “I’m drenched, but I’m okay.” She leaned back from where she’d fallen on top of him. “You okay?” She stood, kicking water off her shoes.

“Other than the ice-water in my jeans, I’m good.” He shifted, pushing himself up with his good arm. “Let’s go inside. The fire’s going and I just made coffee.”

“Ooh yes!”

Inside, Clyde pointed Rey to the bathroom and brought her a selection of clothes to choose from: his bathrobe, one of his newer flannels, a tee-shirt, his softest pair of sweatpants, a pair of wool socks that would definitely not fit her, and a pair of pajama pants that Mellie had left in his dryer. While she changed, Clyde retreated to his room and changed into grey sweats and a long-sleeved waffle-knit shirt. He was nervously fiddling in the kitchen when Rey emerged from his bathroom.

For some inexplicable reason, she’d chosen to put on the flannel shirt, bathrobe, and socks in what had to be the oddest combination of clothing he’d ever seen. The flannel hung past her knees, and the sleeves of the robe flopped over her hands. She’d pulled the socks up to her knees so the heels stuck out like wings on her calves. Her hair was tied up into a bun on top of her head, and her face was pink and shiny like she’d scrubbed it clean, which caught him off guard. He was used to women like Mellie who never let anyone see her without her face fully made up. 

Even though Clyde was objectively aware that Rey hadn’t worn nearly as much face goop as his sister, seeing her without even those little accentuations of her features felt important, somehow. 

She flopped down on his couch and tucked her feet under her like she did it every day, and her familiarity with his house, with him, was much more intimate than anything they’d done the night before. 

Clyde stifled a shiver at the thought.

“Coffee?” he asked, heading for the kitchen. 

“Yes, please! I’m freezing!” 

Leaning over her, Clyde tugged the old quilt off the back of his couch and dropped it over her bare legs before heading to the kitchen. He sprayed a mountain of whipped cream into her mug and tucked the box of chocolates under his arm. She accepted her mug gratefully, wrapping her hands around it and sighing with contentment before licking the top off the swirl of whipped cream as he deposited the chocolate beside her. Clyde returned to the kitchen to catch his breath and make his own coffee minus the whipped cream.

On second thought, he added a much smaller amount than he’d given Rey, and joined her on the couch, bare feet shuffling over the worn linoleum.

They sipped in silence for a few moments, staring at the fire as it crackled and popped.

Passing his mug back and forth between his hands, Clyde peered down into his mug at the dissipating mountain of fake cream in his coffee when he felt the couch move. Curious, Clyde looked around until his gaze settled on Rey, who had shoved herself as far into the corner as she could and had curled up into the smallest ball she could manage, shivering. Slinging his arm over the back of the couch, Clyde crooked a finger at her. Slowly, she uncurled herself and set her mug on the floor before practically flinging herself across the cushions between them and nestling under his arm, pressing her body into his. More shivers wracked her body, and Clyde nearly yelped as she pressed her icy nose into his neck as she slid her legs over his. 

Wrapping his arms around her to pull her closer into his body heat, Clyde let his eyes close and brushed a kiss over her temple. A soft sound of contentment left Rey’s throat as she burrowed even closer to him beneath the afghan. An indeterminate amount of time passed as they sat nestled together. When her breathing slowed and evened out, Clyde realized Rey had fallen asleep and wasn’t quite sure what to do. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been trapped beneath a sleeping woman before. Moving her didn’t seem to be an option; she grunted and squeezed her hands tighter into his shirt when he tried to shift her around. Luckily, one of the useless couch pillows Mellie had insisted he needed was in reach, and he settled it behind his head. 

Not so useless now.

Maybe trapped wasn’t the right word. Her weight over his body felt calming, and he lost himself in the rhythm of her breathing, not thinking or feeling, just simply  _ being _ with her.

A millennia passed as he sat with Rey in his lap. 

Or was it just a handful of seconds?

When she eventually stirred, Clyde held his breath, not wanting to wake her. Muscles tensed beneath his hands, and her breathing quickened as Rey blinked her eyes and flinched in a moment of panic Clyde recognized all too well.

“It’s alright, darlin’, you’re here with me.”

Gently, Clyde removed his arms from around her, uncertain if she’d want to be touched when she was clearly disoriented.

“Clyde?” Rey asked sleepily.

Her eyes focused on his face, then to the small wet spot on his shirt where she’d apparently drooled.

“You okay?” Clyde asked.

“Yeah, I-,” she blushed a bit, trailing her fingers over his chest. “I’m sorry for sleeping on you.”

Clyde noted that she remained on his lap.

“It was nice,” he said. “You snore though.” He grinned at her mock outrage.

“I do not!”

“You kinda do. ’S cute though.”

Her eyes crinkled in the corners and her nose wrinkled up as she tried to stop herself from grinning at him.

“You take that back, Clyde Logan.”

“No, ma’am.”

Rey eyed him thoughtfully before sliding her body around so that she was straddling his lap.

“You sure you don’t want to take it back?”

She seemed to have warmed up considerably, particularly at the juncture of her thighs, which she had pressed up against him.

“What happens if I don’t?” 

In answer, she spread her legs wider, lowering her body even closer to his.

“Honestly, darlin’, if you want me to take it back, that’s not the way to convince me.”

One dark eyebrow arched in response.

“Oh?” Rey peered at him, their faces level with her sitting on his lap.

And she kissed the space between his eyebrows before hopping up too fast for him to catch. Sauntering toward the kitchen, she grinned over her shoulder, her hips swaying and his over-sized socks sliding down her legs as she walked.

Clyde followed her curiously and found her sitting on his kitchen table, legs swinging, with her hand deep in a box of Lucky Charms.

“You don’t mind, do you?” she asked through a mouthful of sugary cereal as she held the box out toward him. He took a handful and pushed the box back toward her in answer. “These are my favorite, but I never buy them, you know?” 

_ I’ll buy you all the cereal you want _ , Clyde thought,  _ if you’ll let me _ .

He nodded. He wasn’t usually one for indulgence, either.

But Rey- he let himself want  _ her. _

“So,” she said, looking down into the box. Clyde guessed she was searching for more marshmallows. “You gonna take it back?”

“Maybe.”

Moving closer to her and tugging the box out of her hands, Clyde used his hands to push her knees apart wide enough for him to stand between them. Rey’s hands slid around behind his back, pulling him down to her, their lips meeting in a sugary kiss. 

Half a second too late, Clyde realized what the rapid clicking sound he suddenly heard was, and before he could stop it, two huge paws had landed on him and Rey, and it seemed that Gryff had inserted himself into the conversation.

Tail swirling like a helicopter’s blades, Gryff immediately stuck his nose into Rey’s face, swiping his tongue from her jaw to her temple. 

“Gryff!” Clyde reprimanded, “No! Down!”

The dog immediately slid down to lie on the floor, his big brown eyes looking at Clyde in betrayal as if to say “but new friend!” He wasn’t too upset, though, because his tail still swished on the floor.

“Sorry, he gets excited about new people. You okay?” Clyde asked Rey, who still looked vaguely startled to have been licked so abruptly.

“I  _ love _ him!” she squealed, sliding off the table to join Gryff on the floor, holding her hand out for him to sniff.

Gryff sniffed her intently, tail still making a large arc on the floor, then the big dog gave a low sound in his throat that wasn’t quite a growl but sounded enough like one to give Rey pause. She pulled her hand away, starting to push herself up on the floor when Gryff laid a huge paw on her leg.

“He likes you,” Clyde said. “That’s how he talks. He’s asking you to pet him.”

“Oh, he talks?” Scooting herself closer to the dog, Rey placed her hands beneath his ears, burying her fingers into the soft fur there in Gryff’s favorite spot. Gryff promptly fell over on his side to ask for more. And she obliged, sliding her hands down the length of the dog’s long body, all while he encouraged her with his whine-growl.

“You’re so soft, Gryff, such a good boy,” Rey crooned to him, scratching along his ribcage. “But you kind of interrupted us. Can’t you go find a bone to occupy yourself for a while? I promise I’ll give you more attention later.” 

Gryff’s back legs were kicking in rhythm with her hands on his belly, his tongue lolling out. Clyde thought he knew exactly how the dog felt. Having Rey’s hands on him made him feel…good. In a way that he didn’t know if he had ever felt.

“Come on, Gryff, let’s find that bone.” 

Rey smirked but pressed her nose to Gryff’s, and just barely missed backing away before she got another swipe of his tongue on her face.

Reaching on top of the fridge for one of the special bones that Clyde usually only gave Gryff when he wanted to read a book in one sitting, Clyde pulled one down and went down the hall to toss it onto the dog’s bed in the spare bedroom. Immediately, the big dog flopped down, placed his huge paws on one end of the bone, and happily gnawed on the other. 

“You were saying about being interrupted?” Clyde teased Rey when he returned to the kitchen. 

“Hmm.” She curled her fingers into the pockets of his sweats, using them to pull him back toward where she’d resettled herself on the kitchen table. Her knees spread further apart, and she hooked her ankles together behind him, tugging him even closer. Clyde settled his hands above her knees, a safe spot, he thought. Not so low that she’d think he  _ wasn’t _ wanting her, but not so high that she’d think him greedy, either. 

Rey’s lips twitched like she knew exactly what he was thinking, and she slid her hands up from his pockets to slowly pass over his stomach, then his chest until she reached his shoulders and tugged him back down to meet her lips.

Clyde found himself very grateful to have purchased the taller of the two tables he’d considered as Rey’s fingers slid behind his neck and into his hair. Pulling him even closer as she scooted closer to him and deepening the kiss, Rey made a soft sound as she pressed against him that Clyde desperately needed to hear again. Tracing his hands lightly over her thighs, his fingers continued their path over smooth skin and kept right on going until they met her hip bones and the lack of fabric that covered them.

Instantly, Clyde’s whole body heated, flushing to the tips of his ears.

This woman had been sitting on his lap for God knew how long, in his clothes, with  _ no underwear _ . 

She was going to kill him.

So he dropped to his knees before her, staring up into her face as he slid his hands back down her legs, tracing down over her calves to stop at her ankles. Panting, she peered down at him, questioning, until Clyde wrapped his hands around her ankles and pushed upward, placing her heels on the table and fully exposing her to him.

Clyde watched as her eyes widened in understanding, and her breath caught as he leaned closer to her center. 

“You,” Clyde said conversationally as he traced one finger over the crease in her thigh, “are going to be the death of me darlin’.” 

Rey whimpered as his finger mirrored its path on the other side. 

He settled in closer to her, watching her skin pebble as his breath skated over the soft flesh.

“Yeah?” she panted. “Well,  _ you _ might just kill me if you don’t- ah!”

Having anticipated her reaction, Clyde had waited until she started to protest before giving her what she wanted. He brushed the tip of his finger over the swollen bud of her clit, watching the muscles in her abdomen clench as her back arched beneath the touch. 

So widely spread were her legs that Clyde didn’t have to spread her lips to see just how dripping wet she was, all for him. Resting his head against her thigh, Clyde lazily traced the length of her slit with two fingers, enjoying the feel of her arousal while she whimpered at his touch. Slowly, drawing her wetness up with his fingers, he drew a pattern over the bundle of nerves that left her a mewling mess beneath his hand. He watched as her head fell back and her fingers dug into her ankles, holding herself up.

“Let go, darlin’,” he murmured into her skin.

So she did, falling backward to lie on his kitchen table, legs still propped on the edge, and her sweet little pussy opened and ready as he dipped a finger inside. That soft little whimper left her again, and one hand left her ankle to twist and tug at her nipple.

His girl needed more.

Shifting his weight forward slowly enough that he didn’t give any warning as to what he was about to do, Clyde brushed his nose through her folds, over her clit, his tongue tracing to the side. She needed more, but she needed to  _ want _ it more. His thumbs dug into the flesh of her inner thighs. She groaned and buried her hands in his hair, attempting to pull him in closer.

With one hand he dragged her closer to his mouth, feeling her heat while his other hand kept her lips spread. He let those fingers drift, letting his lips part hers for a brief second; a satisfying gasp released from her mouth. She needed this, and Clyde would oblige. 

Why keep such a lovely lady waiting?

Giving in, he let his tongue trace the edge, finally tasting her just like he had imagined. She may have needed more, but he needed  _ this _ . Briefly pausing to look up, her eyes were where they should be, on  _ him _ , he gripped her hips, sliding his tongue between her folds and pullingher clit between his lips. The moan she let out told him where to keep his tongue, moving while he sucked. He held that spot, knowing that she’d moan even harder if he just kept going. Her hand was still in his hair, pulling him in further. That wasn’t what this was about, though. Keeping one hand on her hip to keep her down, he grabbed the other hand and freed his face for a moment. Gripping that hand at her side, he dove back in. He might not be able to prove a point by getting back to it, but he’d damn well hear her voice. As if on cue, he got his encouragement. 

His tongue went wild, exhilarated by her moaning he began to lap at her. It was easy enough to get her to moan, but he wanted to feel her writhe against his face, leaving him dripping with her arousal. That meant either freeing her hand or letting go of her hip. Knowing she’d play nice after letting him pin her down, he freed her hand. She’d need to have blood in it shortly anyway.

With that he plunged a finger in her, beckoning her to come closer. He could feel this working, she moved with every stroke of his finger, shook with every pass of his tongue. Clyde knew he could get her to do anything right now to keep him going.

Her cunt was dripping. He had her where he wanted her, or rather he was where she needed him to be. He turned his finger inside of her. Palm up, he inserted another finger, rubbing along that spot inside her that made her arch into his hand. He slid in and out of her, her wetness coating his hand, he plunged back in, only to curl his fingers back toward his tongue. She screamed in pleasure. 

“Good girl,” he said. “Come here.” Rey’s back arched and that damn hand found his hair again. It pulled him in. He couldn’t fucking breathe, but he knew that if he kept up what he was doing, she’d fall back in no time. He threw his other hand around her wrist to loosen her grip on his hair, just a quick breath and he’d have all he needed. He gasped and returned to her, his pace quickened, lapping at her again. 

Her pulse quickened; he could  _ feel _ how close she was. He pulled her clit into his mouth, only to be pulled in closer himself. He didn’t think that was possible but gave a little part to his fingers to gain back some control. Pressing on that spot inside seemed to do the trick. She loosened her grip and let him get back to work, somehow even wetter than before. A good drink after a lot of work tastes better anyway. He had both now and was obliged to finish the job. 

As she fell back, his hand caressed her breast, her nipple was already hard. A slight smile escaped and he replaced his fingers inside of her with his tongue. Damn if she wasn’t wetter than he thought. His face was dripping now. He went to wipe his face but decided to keep going, she tasted  _ so  _ good. Her reaction to his tongue inside of her was all he needed. She gasped as he stroked her with his tongue. Tracing back to her clit, he saw her grit her teeth. She was ready for this. He put his fingers back inside of her, adding a third for good measure, racking up an extra moan. With his tongue and fingers working he had time to watch her face. He stared up at her while she stared intently back at him. 

That’s what he wanted to see. 

It wasn’t long before she broke the staring contest, her shoulders reeling backward, breasts arching upward. Her eyes rolled back, her breathing matching the pace his tongue had set. 

When her pussy started clenching around him, Clyde knew better than to stop what he was doing and fucked her with his fingers as he watched her fall apart. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’ve never actually done what happens in this chapter, which is why I needed Noods’s help. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Yes, I know we’re doing Christmas in February 🤣

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. As much as I don't enjoy Christmas, I love a good, sweet Christmas romance. Hopefully, this was that for you. ❤️


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